Archive for the ‘Proceedings’ Category

Perhaps the most discussed topic during my trip in China was Baidu’s decision to enter the Japanese search engine market in January 2008. It was the first thing that came to mind of just about everyone I spoke with on the topic of my study. Following a nearly year long study of Japanese-language search technology and localization, Baidu’s expansion plans were first announced at the end of 2006. In a reaction on earnings for the fourth quarter in February 2007, Robin Li said the company would spend $15 million, 14 percent of Baidu’s total budget in 2007, trying to replicate its home market success in Internet-savvy Japan.

While in most Western languages vertical lists are perceived as easier to use, given the writing and reading orientations, research has indicated that for Chinese users a horizontal menu in either English or Chinese is more effective. This makes sense because the writing and reading flow – the intrinsic reading and writing directions of the language – in the Chinese language is mostly vertical, from top to bottom. As a result of the different reading flow native Chinese netizens will scan a screen differently from netizens that have been raised with the Roman system.

The screenshots below show the the basic interface structure of (more…)

The emergence of the Chinese economy has many similarities with the past emergence of the Japan and the ‘four Asian Tigers’ Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea. Even though there are major differences in the economical climate for these tigers they have all gone through a certain development pattern in order to sustain their growth. Private domestic investment, combined with rapidly growing human capital, were the principal engines for growth.

Chronologically their development pattern looked something like this: (more…)

I am back in the Netherlands after a very succesfull time in China. What a great 5 weeks it was! When I look at my extensive business card collection I realise how lucky I am, how many people I actually met, and companies I visited; its almost unreal! Now that I am back it is time to structure and process all the data I have sucked in, and it is a lot:

I have collected around 25 hours of interviews, nearly 5 kilos of booksleafletsreportsanalyses, and a fortune worth of digital reports made by some prominent research companies. Furthermore I have a lot of new Facebook and LinkedIn contacts, around 150 pictures, AND, last but not least, a (more…)

Tomorrow it is finally happening; I will head off to China for my research! After months of stalking people with interview requests and reading everything I could about Internet in China, I am going to visit some of the most innovative and prominent Chinese Internet companies. I am really looking forward to traveling through China, finally meeting all the people I have corresponded with, and discussing my research with them! The focus of my trip to China for my Masters Thesis research will be on the international ambitions and strategy of Chinese Internet market leaders. (more…)

It has been a while since my last post, I have been really busy preparing my trip and setting up meetings with people in China! A few days ago I picked up my new passport and I am currently waiting for my visa. Unfortunately on the day I sent my request the regulations had changed and a maximum stay of only 30 days was introduced! Luckily the guy from the visumburo in Amsterdam assured me it will be easy to arrange a permit for a longer stay (I will be in China for approximately 37 days). All I have to do is (more…)

Now that I have succesfully started up my correspondence with numerous Chinese companies that I will interview in April and May, I have put some time in catching up with my readings. Furthermore I am currently organizing all the literature I have read up till now and also I am working on a general structure for my thesis.